Meta has scrapped its earlier plans to become more AI-native, which would have led to a potential 60% reduction in some teams, according to Reuters. The initiative, known as Project OT, was designed to explore how AI could replace human work and restructure the company's operations. The plan, which included two rounds of layoffs, was reportedly canceled after the first round of cuts in May. Meta confirmed to Reuters that it conducted a scenario planning exercise to assess the impact of these changes but ultimately decided not to proceed with all the proposed measures. The company said it did not move forward with every scenario from the exercise and that it was never assumed they would. Source: arstechnica
Reuters reported that Meta executives created Project OT in January, which aimed to use AI to perform much of the daily work currently done by thousands of human employees. Small teams of people would oversee the AI, according to an internal planning document reviewed by Reuters and three people familiar with the project. The plan included giving some employees new roles and laying off others. One HR executive reportedly said that Meta would have reduced its headcount by about 25 percent or more under these scenarios. Meta said it canceled Project OT before determining how many layoffs the plan called for. Source: arstechnica
A Project OT document described an “AI-native” company as one where “AI-ready tools and agents interact, workflows are automated, [and] new builds are AI-first.” Being “AI-native” also meant selling AI agents to third parties, which Meta started doing in June. This year, Meta reportedly launched a pilot program that restructured engineering teams, research teams, and at least eight other teams into smaller groups. This followed the October publishing of an internal post called “AI-Native Playbook,” in which a Meta product management team member outlined how the pilot would remove middle management and use “agent-assisted analysis” to help prioritize daily tasks. Source: arstechnica
